I lay flat on the bed without the motivation to stand up. In 30 minutes, my 8 am class would begin and if I didn't stand up to hurry in and out of the bathroom, I would miss the class. Professor Dora didn't let any student in after she walked the class.
Source
I dragged myself off the bed and tested my legs on the ground, they were wobbly and there was this sharp pain in my stomach that went all the way to my back. As if that wasn't enough, I was dizzy and my throat was parched.
I managed to engage my wobbly legs and headed first to get a sachet of water to gobble down. The sharp pain in my stomach became worse and I had to sit for some time to let it ease up before heading back to the bathroom.
I wasn't surprised that I was feeling like that.
The day before, I had chain classes from 8 am to 3 pm, taking just one egg roll in between the classes. By the time I arrived home, I was too exhausted to start running around for food so I just poured some of the garri I preserved for days like this, added some beverage, and drank it. Then I got to work.
My roommate arrived home 2 hours after I did. She too was spent from not eating before going to school so she just laid down and slept till well into the night.
I was done with my writing by 9 pm. By then, most provision shops and mini-market stalls had closed so I opted to take the last of the cabin biscuits in my carton and just slept off right after that. I was hoping I would be able to cook after class but I was too exhausted.
I had just finished taking a shower when my phone began to ring. It was Jessie, one of my best girls.
“Treasure! Prof Dora isn't going to be in class today” She was the course representative so the information was definitely correct.
“Thank God,” I said weakly as she hung up. I was finally going to get the opportunity to eat well.
I hurriedly put my clothes on and sat down to calculate the cost of preparing a simple meal and the cost of eating out. I opted for the latter.
If I prepared a simple meal that morning, I would have to come back and prepare another meal for lunch and dinner and I didn't want what happened the previous day to repeat itself.
I dropped a note for my roommate who was still sleeping and hurried out of the house. If I got to the school canteen on time, I would find a spot to sit. Students who lived in the hostels were always the first to occupy the canteen, especially during morning meals.
I loved to make my own meals in the house for so many reasons. Apart from the canteen being too stuffy and loud because of the so many people who came to eat, the food was expensive, maybe because it was all quality in that particular canteen instead of quantity like the others.
I also didn't like the fact that there were just limited dishes available; soup, rice and beans. No plantain, no veggies, no noodles, so on most occasions, I did my food at home the way I liked it and ate whatever quantity I wanted.
That didn't apply to the last few days though. I had been so occupied with schoolwork and my writing that I couldn't find spare time to cook. I wondered what would have happened if I wasn't financially buoyant enough to purchase fast food.
It was already 8:39 am by the time I arrived at the canteen and like I suspected, it was jam-packed with students in casual wear. They were obviously from the hostel. I found a spot somewhere close to the door and then went to join the queue at the counter.
It was almost 9 am when I got my steaming plate of afang soup and fufu, since I hadn't eaten well since the previous day, I decided to have something that would sustain me till I got home and prepared the Jollof rice and smoked fish I had been craving since the week before.
Maybe it was because I learnt from my mom who was a professional cool but I loved my own food. I hardly got impressed when I patronized fast food vendors or ate from a stranger's kitchen. It even took me some time to adjust to my roommate's cooking.
Seeing that I was getting busier with work and school, I wondered what I was going to do about my diet. There was no way I could prepare meals every day anymore so as I sat there in the canteen, I decided to do a food schedule; fast food in the mornings and home-cooked meals in the evenings, for as long as that was the only way I could survive until my schedule got better.